Norwich City kick off their Championship campaign is little more than a week’s time and there are battles all over the pitch to land a place in the starting line-up against West Bromwich Albion.
One of the positions that is up for grabs is the right-sided centre-back role next to Jose Cordoba, who has cemented his place as the first-choice ahead of Bruno Alves.
Typically, the Carrow Road friendly in pre-season is used as a dress rehearsal for the first league match, and it was Harry Darling who got the nod over Ruairi McConville in the starting line-up.
It was McConville who ended the 2025/26 campaign as the first-choice alongside Cordoba when Norwich strung an impressive run of form together, though, which is why this flip in the pecking order is an eye-catching one.
The case for and against Harry Darling
What works in Darling’s favour is that he has scored two goals in pre-season, including one against Osasuna, and caught the eye with his passing range against St Gallen.
Whilst goals are not what a central defender should be primarily judged on, having a player who can support the attack from defence to chip in with goals from set-pieces could be invaluable this season.
The former Swansea star’s ability to play accurate long passes and to break lines in possession can also help the team to create more chances from open play, which is another reason why Clement my prefer him.
On the flip side of that, though, the argument against Darling is that he is not the strongest option available when it comes to out-and-out defending.
The English talent only won 57% of his aerial duels in the league last term, struggling against some attackers in the air, and made four errors that directly led to shots or goals.
His lack of strength aerially and his lapses in concentration when forwards run off the back of him from balls over the top and down the sides create more opportunities for opposition attackers.
That may be why he ended the 2025/26 season with a higher goals conceded per game rate (1.37) than both McConville and Cordoba in the Championship.
Selecting Darling, therefore, may come down to whether Clement thinks Norwich need more quality in possession rather than out-and-out defensive solidity.
The case for and against Ruairi McConville
The case against McConville may be that he has not had the best pre-season in comparison to Darling, particularly after he came off the bench against Osasuna and failed to react for their winning goal.
Norwich’s Northern Ireland international is also not quite as comfortable in possession as the Englishman. Whilst he is competent with the ball at his feet, he does not break lines and hit long diagonals in the same way.
The 21-year-old centre-back also does not have the experience that Darling has in the Championship, with only one season of regular first-team football under his belt, and Clement may want more experience in his backline.
However, the case for McConville is that, on paper, he is the club’s best out-and-out defender and the difference in their defensive record with and without him is significant.
In the 2025/26 Championship season, the former Brighton star ranked first for points per 90 (1.70) and first for fewest goals conceded per 90 (1.00) out of all of the team’s centre-backs.
Norwich kept nine clean sheets in the league last term and seven of those nine clean sheets came in the 25 matches that McConville played in.
The Canaries conceded 1.69 goals per 90 without McConville in the side compared to 1.00 with him in the team, and he won a higher percentage of his aerial duels (66%) than all of his positional peers.
Given how much better Norwich were as a team, both defensively and overall, with McConville in the side over Darling in the 2025/26 campaign, it feels like the former is better placed to win the race to start alongside Cordoba this season.
